NewsBTC reporter Samuel Rae reached out to Gavin Smith, the CEO of First Global Credit. He spoke in details about the the potential of Bitcoin in finance market, and how his company is utilizing this new payment technology in traditional investment methods.
Samuel Rae: First of all, tells little bit about what First Global Credit is all about.
Gavin Smith: First Global Credit has been founded as a vehicle for people who believe that Bitcoin will increase significantly in value over of time. We allow these people to use their BTC as margin to either invest or day trade stocks, stock indices, ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) or commodities.
We offer two programs with two different fee structures so that both long term investors and day traders are catered for.
On February 1st we are adding a new service to our portfolio. Not only can our clients use their BTC as trading margin, but they no longer have to keep the margin in digital currency format. If they believe there is an advantage to moving their BTC into USD, GBP, CHF, or EUR without closing their stock / commodity position then they can switch out of TC and into the alternative currency at the click of a button. We give our clients convenience and control over their assets. Using these services together, they can exercise their opinions and maximize the potential of their holdings quickly and efficiently. This has significant benefits for customers who want to trade both bitcoin price and stocks using the same collateral.
The bitcoin space is growing fast, where do you see First Global Credit fitting into the overall infrastructure?
Our vision for First Global Credit is to be one of the key financial companies in the digital currency industry. The goal to provide a range of investment and savings alternatives that ultimately give the same choice and flexibility that holders of traditional currencies enjoy. But we believe this can be achieved without the “baggage” associated with the traditional banking system.
We believe that to become more stable and widely accepted Bitcoin needs to make the leap from where it is right now, a ‘transactional currency’ into a true ‘investment currency’ where holders can invest securely in a range of products denominated in Bitcoin; Bitcoin savings accounts, Bitcoin funds, Bitcoin loans. Some of which are starting to be seen in the marketplace.
Is there anybody at the company that are users may be interested to hear are involved?
We are none of us well known. Just quietly excellent people coming from backgrounds in advanced hedging strategies, data security, commodity trading and high frequency trading.
How does the technology work?
When you log into your account you are taken to a summary page where you get a picture of your assets and where they stand at the minute. You can see how many Bitcoins you have in your account. How many are free and how many are being used as collateral for investments. You can see what your positions you have and what your profit or loss is at any given time. Finally you can see the number of bitcoins you have made by referring people to the service who are live trading the service. There is a tab for depositing and withdrawing BTC, a Place Orders tab and a Manage orders tab where you can decrease the size of a position, change your stops or close a position completely
Where do you see bitcoin in 10 years – first in terms of value and second in terms of where it will fitting into both online and off-line commerce?
In 3 years time I see Bitcoin as an accepted currency used by regular consumers, sometimes without even knowing the transaction was facilitated by Bitcoin and/or the blockchain. In 5 years time I believe it will be as acceptable to hold bitcoin as part of your investment portfolio as any other asset class. In 10 years’ time I believe Bitcoin and the Blockchain will facilitate international trade not just at the consumer level but at the international non-banking business level. These transactions will make the industries current aspirations to take Western Unions market in consumer fund transfers seem like small change.
To facilitate even a small part of this International Trade (currently $37.5 trillion) the total Bitcoin worth will need to be much higher than the current $3bn so inevitably will lead to a substantial increase in price.
What, as bitcoin enthusiasts, should we be doing to get ourselves prepared for this future you speak of?
We also need to spread the word. Too many people have their view of Bitcoin tainted by a mainstream media which supports the status quo. Show people the benefits. Above all else think about how existing problems, large or small, can be solved using Bitcoin or the blockchain – the beauty of this industry is that all the answers aren’t all known yet. You may have that world changing app that delivers mass adoption of Bitcoin, something which should be the goal of everyone in our industry,
How can our users find out more about your company/technology/service?
We offer a simulated trading service so you can see how it all works before trading for real. We also run regular free trading competitions where the winner gets a small funded trading account to trade with. To register go to www.firstglobalcredit.com/register.aspx then log into any of the clearly marked paper trading accounts.